Over the past few years I've been hearing a good deal about the chemicals we've been exposing our bodies to on a daily basis. It seems everywhere we turn there are more chemicals. Some chemicals aren't so harsh on our bodies, like soaps, shampoos, and the like. Others, like many cleaning products, are far more harsh. There are a million recipes out there for cleaners to do any household chore, most of them very green and much safer for the family than the store-bought heavy chemicals.
After a visit to the ER for my poor, sweet baby boy today I decided we needed to do something about our laundry soap. I know the boys and I have all had reactions to different perfumed laundry soaps in the past, but never as severe of a problem as my baby boy was having. We can't positively identify the source of the problem, but the chicken pox turned into a bad rash which proceeded to get infected. It's entirely possible that the rash was simply a bad combination of the open chicken pox sores and the bad reaction we had been observing with the laundry soap. Because that skin was already raw and sore, it made the reaction go crazy, where as before it was causing a little minor redness at best. The doctor recommended we not use cloth diapers until the infection clears up, bleach the diapers well to remove any chance of infection, and from that point on, change our laundry soap, just to be on the safe side. If he breaks out real bad when we go to cloth again, obviously the problem is bigger than the laundry soap or some lingering contamination, and we'll have to either replace all our diapers or simply change to disposables, something I dread doing. With luck, we'll be able to salvage the diapers and continue to use them. As our diapers still had a residual smell after cleaning the last couple of times I washed them, I'm hoping a real deep clean is all that's necessary.
A few weeks back I was talking to some girls on an online forum about dreadlocks. They had talked about deep cleaning solutions they have used for their hair. Their deep cleaning process reminded me of the combination I was suggested for hand washing my diapers. I decided after bleaching the diapers, I'm going to try out this combination and see if it does us some good.
Typically done in measurements, this cleaner can be used for hair, diapers, and I've heard of it being used for clothing as well, though I would definitely test it out on any kind of delicate fabric before you use it on anything with special washing instructions. For my diapers, I've always kind of eyeballed it. When hand washing, I usually mix it together in a tub or bucket full of water. In a washing machine, I typically just add it as the water starts running, or after the water has already filled. There are two very simple ingredients, baking soda, and typically apple cider vinegar. Of course, some people substitute white vinegar as per preference for any number of reasons. For use on the skin, apple cider vinegar may be a bit too strong. Just be certain that it's all well washed out of whatever you use it on, be it clothes (check before they hit the dryer) or hair. For those of you who prefer measurements, I've found information that suggests anywhere between 1/4-3/4 of a cup of baking soda combined with a cap full of vinegar. I know a cap full is not a standardized measurement, but it's pretty easy to estimate. I've found a couple resources that suggest 8 or so drops of tea tree oil and a couple of references listing lemon juice both with the vinegar and as a replacement for vinegar (an average of one to two tablespoons). Keep in mind for mixing this to use in hair, you want to mix it well before you add it to your hair. Obviously for dreads you will need to soak to penetrate all the way through each dread, but if you have normal hair, simply adding it to your hair and letting it do it's job for a while should do the trick too. I've used it before and didn't even need to scrub my hair. I just let it do it's job. Unfortunately, with vinegar, it has a very strong smell, and rinsing it out all the way doesn't necessarily get rid of the smell as quickly as you might like.
So there you have it, a quick and easy cleaner for your hair or clothing that can be thrown together with simple ingredients from your grocery store. I do apologize for the lack of formal measurement, but I've found that experimenting is really the best way to find what works best as all washers seem to be a little different. I also find I need to use more baking soda on diapers than I would with regular clothes. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of using it on my hair as my hair doesn't feel as soft as I'd like afterward, but some people do swear by it. For me, I'm glad I remember mixing all of this to wash diapers. It saves all the chemicals that are even found in free and clear products. Better still, it saves money!
No comments:
Post a Comment